George Zimmerman, center, stands with his attorney Mark O'Mara, right, and a Seminole County Deputy during a court hearing last April. / Gary W. Green, AP

by Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY

by Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY

A hearing that would have allowed George Zimmerman, the man accused of murdering Trayvon Martin, to claim self-defense before a judge without a jury will not be held in April as previously scheduled.

The news came Tuesday morning while Zimmerman's attorneys and state prosecutors discussed several issues before Circuit Judge Debra Nelson including the self-defense immunity hearing date, the possibility that Trayvon's friend who claims she was on the phone with the teen before he was killed lied under oath, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement files on people involved in the case.

"The real focus is going to be getting ready for a jury trial," said Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, as he explained why he decided not to use two weeks that had been set aside for the immunity hearing. "I think it's going to be a more accepted result if he gets an acquittal at trial."

Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, is facing a second-degree murder charge in the Feb. 26, 2012, shooting of the 17-year-old in a gated Sanford, Fla., community. Trayvon's family argues the young man was profiled, pursued and murdered. Zimmerman says he shot Trayvon in self-defense after being attacked.

Florida's self-defense law states that a person can use deadly force if fearing danger of death or serious harm. Lawyers for Zimmerman say Zimmerman feared for his life when he killed Trayvon. Self-defense immunity hearings allow defendants to make their case to a judge who, if convinced, can drop all charges.

Zimmerman's defense attorneys decided that they didn't have enough time to prepare for such a hearing and a trial, O'Mara said. He added, as he has in the past, that attorneys must mount an expensive defense but have little money to do so. He also said Zimmerman preferred being tried by "a jury of his peers."

However, he did not say that Zimmerman, 29, was waiving his right to an immunity hearing, explaining that they may choose to wrap such a hearing into the trial or pursue one separately.

During Tuesday's hearing, the credibility of Witness 8, a young woman who claims she was on the phone with Trayvon moments before he was killed, became an issue after defense attorneys revealed in court that the young woman may have lied under oath.

In a sworn deposition, the young woman told prosecutors she didn't go to Trayvon's wake or funeral but instead went to the hospital because she was sick, said Don West, another Zimmerman attorney in court. However, the young woman never went to the hospital, West said.

O'Mara, who had sought Witness 8's medical records from her hospital visit, said state prosecutors told him on Monday that there was "a problem with their witness" and that no such records existed.

In court Tuesday, state prosecutors confirmed to Judge Nelson that no hospital records existed. She did not question prosecutors further on the issue.

Witness 8 may be the state's most important witness because she claims she was on the phone with Trayvon as the confrontation between him and Zimmerman started. She has said Trayvon tried to run from Zimmerman but was continually followed the night of the shooting.

Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda talked to reporters after the hearing but said little. "I'm not going to be making comments about specific witnesses," he said when asked about whether Witness 8 lied under oath.

De la Rionda also referred reporters to Florida law when asked why he wasn't charging Witness 8 with perjury as his office did after Zimmerman's wife lied about the couple's finances during a bond hearing last year.

Tuesday's hearing also dealt with evidence issues.

Judge Nelson ruled that O'Mara can have biographical profiles collected by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on several people including Zimmerman, Trayvon, the teen's parents and several witnesses. Defense attorneys will get information that includes addresses, phone numbers and social media account profiles.

A representative for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and de la Rionda both asked the judge to keep the profiles from defense attorneys because they contain personal information such as driver's license numbers, Social Security numbers, and employment history.

Judge Nelson reviewed the files during a short recess and ruled that O'Mara can have redacted versions of the biographical profiles.